Kingdom Hearts: Door to Awakening
by Xon L. Millions
Summary: A prequel to an upcoming story, this story takes place 95 years after the events of Sora's story. Follow two Keybladers, Noa and Elwing, as they travel the worlds to defeat the darkness, along with a new, far greater enemy.
1. Ch1 Re:turn to the Garden

**DISCALIMER: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS, OR ANY APPEARING FINAL FANTASY OR DISNEY CHARACTERS**

**Kingdom Hearts**

**Door to Awakening**

**Chapter 1:**

**Re:turn to the Garden**

Noa hated flying. The twisting, turning, dodging, and just overall vibrations of the gummi ship made him nauseous. Which is why he was strapped in quite nicely in the passenger seat of the ship while his partner Elwing flew. Noa was very glad to have an ace-pilot like her at the helm. Especially while going to Radiant Garden, which has had a lot of activity floating around it lately. So, at the current moment, their ship _Halberd_ was weaving in and out of Heartless ship onslaughts, while also dead-eye firing back. All the motion and shaking was making Noa sick. He slumped down in his chair, a flop sweat coming onto his forehead. He rested his temple on the inside of his gloved palm, trying to keep down his lunch. "Elly, do you think you could keep the ship a _bit_ more steady, please...?"

Grinning some, Elly wrapped her fingers tightly over the controls pressed to her palms, her arms still slightly bent at the elbow. Elwing had always been up for an adventure or the occasional journey. It got her blood racing, her heart pounding. Though the fighting wasn't half bad, it wasn't as invigorating at the mission itself. And with a passion for excitement and adrenaline, it wasn't too surprising that Elwing had a need for speed. Lifting her right hand in order to punch in a few more numbers and turn some knobs, Elwing replaced her hand over the control. With that simple motion, she thrusted her arms forward, sending them into a spiral, while calling over Noa's frantic squeals and complaints, "Steady enough for ya?!"

Noa's hand quickly shot to his mouth. When their spiraling had ended, Noa slowly steadied himself, and released his hand from his mouth. Both his hands shot to the armrests and gripped them as hard as he could. He gave a death-glare into the back of Elwing's head, but slowly rolled his eyes, which unfortunately made him even sicker. He gave a sigh and tried to peek over her shoulder. With a grumble, he said, "Elly, are we close yet? Can you see the Garden...? I'm really looking forwards to having my feet on solid, unmoving ground..." He slumped back into his seat, rapping his fingers on the metal of the chair out of impatience.

"Look at the window Noa," Elwing said impatiently.

Noa grumbled. "I'm trying to, but your head's in the way..."

Sighing some, Elwing rolled her eyes a bit, and simply pressed auto-pilot. Reaching for a small button on the edge of her seat, she reclined back far enough so that he could clearly see the expanse of Radiant Garden before them. "Better?"

Noa blinked and sighed with relief. Radiant Garden was beautiful to begin with, but the relief he felt to see its beauty made it even more astonishing. "Heheh...yeah...." Noa was finally able to sit up slightly, now with just the hum off the engine giving him a slight bother. He unstrapped a few of the belts holstering him into the chair and breathed a sigh of relief. He felt horrible about his condition. How bad was it to be the Captain of a ship you couldn't stand to be in? Just because he was the better fighter didn't make him the better pilot. Oh well. He was in charge, though he never pushed that on Elly. They had known each other all their lives, and secretly Noa had some strong feelings for her, but he couldn't let any of that get in the way of his duties. He gave a small clear of the throat and took on his strong face again. "Alright, we're close enough. Begin docking and prep the transporter for Departure."

Ely gave a small smile of laughter. It was always funny to see Noa trying to all strong and leader-like. Staring back at him for a few extra moments, Ely blushed ever so slightly. It was true any girl would most likely be attracted to a man with power, both physically and in status, but that was the last reason Ely seemed to feel a deep connection with Noa. She had known him almost all her life, and even though they were close friends and comrades in battle, she could always feel a stronger emotion than friendship sink in every time her gaze fell upon him. Ely quickly realized she had been staring, and shook her head to clear the thoughts. This wasn't the time. Still smiling with amusement, she sat back up, and punched in the correct keys on the _Halberd's_ command panel, mumbling a quick "Yes, sir," to keep Noa in the feeling of leadership.

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A few minutes later, Noa and Elwing were beamed down to the Receiving Dock on the Gummi Platform in Radiant Garden. When the light from the beam let up, Noa rubbed his eyes to quickly adjust them. Blinking a few times to correct his eyes, he gave a small smile. He had always felt like Radiant Garden was his home. It felt peaceful and warm inside his chest every time he came here. Maybe it was because they had made frequent trips to this world, and it just seemed that way, or maybe it was the world itself. Radiant Garden was in fact known for its hospitality, flourishment, and overall brightness that radiated from this world. It was hard to believe that in its past, the Garden had been taken over by darkness and decayed into the abysmal palace known as Hollow Bastion. But that had been about 95 years ago, and was too far in the past to affect the world's current mode.

Since the days of Hollow Bastion and the fall of the original Radiant Garden, the world had completely renewed itself into what it once was: a happy and abundant village of happy-faced townspeople surrounding the structural heart of the world, the castle. The evil Heartless castle that had become the heart of the world as Hollow Bastion was now completely whipped from existence. The walls around the village had finally closed off, leaving only a small gated entrance/exit for those wishes to travel into interesting areas, like hiking on the Ravine Trail, and taking in the scenery at the Dark Depths, and, of course, the wonderful eye candy that was the Crystal Fissure, which had now doubled in size, and beauty.

As Noa reflected on the world's beauty, he and Elwing had since left the Gummi Hanger that was an attachment on the right side of the castle and were making their way through the halls to meet with the current ruler of the world, Ress Ahtel. Ress was the type of man whose smile could light up the room. The air around him seemed to make you feel comforted and safe. Like everything was going to be OK. He was a man of late twenties, and had slicked-back shoulder blade-length blonde hair. His eyes were an extreme shade of almost glowing bright blue. Ress was not so much a researcher like his infamous ancestor (though not by blood) Ansem the Wise, but he was more of a philosophizer. He leaned more towards simply thinking about things rather than doing physical research over the topic. He believed the mind was the only true tool anyone needed. Not much was known about Ress's past. He, much like one other inhabitant of Radiant Garden who has since been deemed unmentionable, landed in Radiant Garden with no memory of his past.

Thinking of the greatness of the man Ress Ahtel began to make Noa feel almost self-conscious about his own appearance. He wore black shoes with a silver outsole and very baggy black pants with leather "armor" from his waist to just above his knees. He wore 3 black belts, one horizontal across the waist and two cross-crossing to make an "x". His shirt was a little more odd than the usual. On the torso, it was normal enough, just a black shirt, but each of his sleeves were different. His left sleeve was tight against his skin, while his right was very loose, and came to a bell opening at the bottom with a thick silver lining on the trim. He wore two black wrist-length gloves on each hand, and, over all of this, he wore a sleeveless white long coat that reached to the floor. As far as his hair and eyes went, they were both black, his eyes a little more of a grey, and the length of his hair went to just below his neck. His face was nothing special, he thought, and clearly gave away his age, 17, and he was an average 5'11" in height.

After going over his own attire and overall appearance, Noa glanced over to look at Elwing. She was a _bit_ smaller than him, only coming up to about 5'4", and her powder blue hair that was a bit longer than Noa's was accented by her deep violet eyes. Her outfit was mostly white and light blue, which also accented her hair. She had white shoes with a blue outsole; she wore a blue shirt which also acted as a skirt than came down about midway on her tights, and started just above her bust. It was a light blue, but had two large darker blue stripes going vertically down it, and a small silver heart crest on the chest. She also wore a white sleeveless open coat, except her was just as long as her shirt, and it also had a sequential heart pattern on the ends, and on the collar and running down the inside. Above all this, she wore a loose blue belt at her waist, and white fingerless gloves on each hand with a golden ring on the wrist. She also wore a necklace with a silver star as a pendant, a gift Noa had given her years ago on her 12th birthday, which was 4 years ago, making her a year younger than Noa, 16.

After giving Elwing a quick look over, Noa's eyes yet again traveled up her body and landed on her eyes, where they remained. He stared into them for as long as he could before he felt she would notice, and quickly turned away, trying to hide the red in his cheeks. After a few more moments of silence, Noa and Elwing came upon the door leading into Ress's study. Noa took in a deep breath to calm himself, and reached his fist up, giving three quick knocks on the door. A few moments later, they heard a response of "Come in," from the inside. With a glance towards Elwing, who gave a nod, Noa reached down and grabbed the handle of the door, and pushed it open.

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Alright, everyone, there it is. Chapter one. Sorry it's a bit short, but I felt like this was a good place to stop. Bit of a "cliffhanger" if you even want to call it that, just to see if people will come back for more!

Which reminds me, I'm the type of person who kinda relies on comments, and in the case of , reviews. So please, if I don't get at least a few reviews, I will not continue the story, for I will see no point. Seriously, even if it's one person, I just need reviews.

So, yeah, that's about all for now. Hope to see you in the next chapter!  
-Grim


	2. Ch2 Re:turn of Darkness

**DISCALIMER: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS, OR ANY APPEARING FINAL FANTASY OR DISNEY CHARACTERS**

**Kingdom Hearts**

**Door to Awakening**

**Chapter 2:**

**Re:turn of Darkness**

Ress hated doing paperwork. He felt it was a waste of time, and it took away from human interaction. If people simply met face-to-face in issues, a lot of problems would be solved. He gave a sigh and began signing away on papers anyways, knowing it was his duty to get these things done. The town's sewer system was acting up lately, so he had to officially sign a petition t get it fixed. Again…he hated paperwork. Maybe he would do away with it. It was _his_ decision, after all. Ress was interrupted from his thoughts by three sudden knocks at the door. He glanced up at it, wondering who it could be for a moment. He figured it was another guard or townsperson asking about something, so, giving a sigh to prepare himself, went back to his paperwork, and called out a quick, "Come in."

A few moments later, he heard the door click open, and saw a swing of the brown wood in is peripheral vision. In stepped two persons, each dressed a little odd for his world. The shapes looked familiar though. Ress finally looked up, and a smile quickly grew across his cheeks. "Noa, Elwing!" Ress stood up from his chair at his desk excitedly, and opened his arms out in astonishment and joy. "My two favorite Keybladers! How are you two doing?" he asked, as giddy as a small child given a candy bar.

Noa couldn't help it. Seeing this man smiling _made _you smile. He was trying to keep a professional composure, but couldn't help it, and smiled back. Before responding, he quickly remembered the etiquette, and gave a deep bow of respect to the world's ruler, as did Elwing in suit. After standing back erect after the gesture, Noa's smile grew again. "It's a great pleasure and honor to see you again, Ress. I wish our meeting could have been under less dire needs."

Ress' smile fell, and a look of confusion crossed his brow. "Then I take it this is not a meeting among friends?" he guessed. Quickly noticing the two were still standing, he gestured to the two chairs facing his desk. "Please, sit."

Noa glanced to Elwing and nodded, and the two took their seats. "Unfortunately, no," Noa answered. "This is a meeting between Keybladers and the Ruler of a world in trouble."

Ress' eyes widened in surprise. "'A world in trouble'? Is Radiant Garden in danger?" His eyes fell to his desk in shame. "How could I have not noticed this…"

Elwing quickly leaned forwards slightly, a look of concern across her face. "Don't blame yourself for this, Ress. You couldn't have known." She glanced at Noa, who gave a nod as the go-ahead for her to explain. Leaning back into her chair, Elwing gave a clear of her throat and began, "We've been noticing a greater collection of Heartless ships hovering around the Radiant Garden's airspace. For some reason, they're being attracted to something on this world. We're not sure of what yet, but that's what we're here to find out. Now, Radiant Garden's Keyhole has been sealed, but…" Elwing trailed off, unable to finish the explanation.

Ress looked up, now even more concerned. "But..?"

Noa looked at Elwing, who shook her head slightly. He sighed, and looked Ress in the eyes, telling him the hard truth. "We have reason to believe that the Heartless have found a way to reopen the pathway to a world's heart. It seems as if the old locks are, well…beginning to wear off. Or maybe they're getting stronger. Either way, worlds once thought safe forever are now in danger again. We're here to stop this thing before it starts all over again." Noa eyes narrowed in anger. Not at anyone specifically, but at the damned Heartless and all the trouble they cause. "I swear to you, Ress, I will do everything in my power to prevent your world from destruction!"

Elwing quickly glanced at Noa, a deep respect pouring from her heart. Noa always became so emotional about this type of stuff. Maybe it was because his home world was destroyed by the Heartless. Maybe it was just his strong heart and the desire to rid evil. Maybe it was that rather than skill with a weapon that made him a great Keyblader, the best anyone had seen in ages. 'Oh, Noa…'

Ress' expression lightened some, and a small smile crept onto his lips. He slunk back into his chair, feeling a small weight being lifted off his shoulders. He knew he could trust these two with all his [_**heart**_]. Giving a sigh of relief, Ress whispered, "Thank you, both of you. Radiant Garden and I owe you a great deal of gratitude." He gave a small bow with his head in appreciation.

Noa's face turned red with embarrassment. The Ruler of a world shouldn't give this much gratitude to low-class people like him, he thought. Nodded to Ely, they stood up and each gave a deep bow of respect to Ress, each mumbling the traditional, "Thank you, Ress Ahtel." Ress dismissed them, and Noa reached for the door, holding it open as Elwing walked through. Noa followed, closing the door behind him. As they walked through the corridors of the castle, heading towards the entrance, Noa breathed a sigh of relief. "Glad to get _that _out of the way. I love being around Ress as much as anyone else does, but…someone with that much _power _just makes me feel…I don't know, out of place. Uncomfortable. Don't you?" he asked, turning his head towards Ely.

Ely simply gave a shrug. "Not really. I love being around him. I don't let things like status get in the way. Besides, he only has as much power as the people give him. _We're _the ones with the real power!" she said jokingly, smirking at the thought. A small daydream crept into her head of her beating Ress in the head with her keyblade. It made her giggle at the thought.

Noa's eyes, however, widened in shock. "Don't say stuff like that! Especially around here! If people heard you, they might—"

"They might what? Tell Ress?" Elwing interrupted, still smiling. "I'm sure he'd get a kick out of it!" She looked back up at a still worried Noa. Letting out a sigh, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "You've gotta calm down, Noa. Stop being such a worry-wart! Loosen up a bit, have fun!"

Noa's face reddened in embarrassment. He gave a sigh and looked forwards, his stoic "leader face" on. "I'll 'loosen up' when we get this mission over with! But right now, we're here on business, not to fool around! An entire world is in danger of the darkness, Elwing. Show at least a _little _respect…"

Ely's face fell, and soon turned to annoyance. "Fine…crybaby…"

Noa simply sighed at her immaturity…

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once outside, Noa and Ely took a rest just outside the castle walls. Ely gave herself a boost, and sat on the tall rock wall ledge that was around the castle. Swinging her legs, she looked, for once, at eye-level to Noa. "What's next, then?"

Noa smirked and reached into a chest pocket on the inside of his coat. "This." He pulled out a hand-sized electronic device that had only a few buttons, and a large screen. On the tiny space above the screen was the Heart insignia with a small crown above it, the symbol of the Keybladers. "The **HT700**, or simply The **H Tracker**, the "h" of course standing for Heartless. Newest model out, top of the line! I got it from the Master just before we left!" Noa said, smiling in pride at the newest piece of technology, his other hobby. He became even more proud of it as Ely stared at it, wide-eyed, letting out an "Ooooooooh!" of interest. Noa tapped the touchscreen for it to turn on. "This tiny thing sends out a huge signal for about 100 miles in each direction, and anything that has a Darkness Reading will bounce the signal back. This thing even has an almost-complete Heartless database! It should help us track down the source of darkness around here attracting all the Heartless."

Ely gave a small laugh. "Wow, if this thing could wield a keyblade, we'd be out of the business!" she joked. She was happy to see Noa laugh at one of her jokes, for once. She laughed again at his remark of, "Don't give them the idea!"

Noa selected "Radiant Garden" from the World List on the HT, and then hit "Pulse" on the screen. With a continuous beeping radar noise, the HT began sending out the signal. The seconds, then minutes began to pass, and Noa's brow slowly became more confused and concerned. Nothing was coming up. Why? Was this thing busted? Something attracting _that many _ Heartless should surely show up! Maybe it was gone already…No, then the Heartless would have followed it…right? Noa gave a growl of anger and turned the HT off, shoving it back into his pocket. "Damned thing…"

Ely, too, became concerned. "What is it? Not working?"

"No, it's working," Noa replied. "The problem is it's not showing anything. Besides the normal amounts of bits of darkness in the people, there's nothing showing up as pure darkness. Nothing big enough to attract Heartless like that…that's what concerns me. I thought maybe it had come and left, but—"

"But that would mean the Heartless should have left, too…" Ely figured. Noa nodded in response. She sighed, and leapt down from the wall. "Well, we better get busy, then."

Noa looked at her confused. "Busy?" He watched as she started to walk down the steps leading to the castle towards the Town. She looked back at him for a few brief moments.

"You're not giving up just because that little plastic box told you nothing was here, are you?" She saw Noa getting a bit embarrassed and started to stammer. She quickly smiled and interrupted him. "I'm going to go ask around. Maybe the townspeople can tell us something. Something we've missed."

"Oh, yes…right…" With a cough to clear his embarrassment, he began to follow Ely towards the Town.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

While on the trail leading into the town, both Noa and Elwing's stomachs began to growl from slight hunger pains. They both glanced at each other and smirked at the incident. Noa then decided to kill two birds with one stone, and said that their first stop would be at a restaurant they would frequently visit. They had begun to befriend the owner of the small tavern over their stops to the Garden, and he had become a useful source of information…and egg buns.

When they arrived into the Town, the familiar and quite simple sign of "Food" came into sight. Again, as if in planned unison, their stomach's growled. Picking up their pace a bit, Noa and Ely arrived at the tavern, opening the creaky wooden door. As they stepped inside the old, musty place, they first noticed it was almost empty, besides one or two random people at tables far from each other, a waitress cleaning the tables, and the owner standing behind the cash register and bar at the end of the far wall. The large, middle-aged, balding man looked up, getting ready for the usual greeting, but his glum face quickly lit up when he saw who had walked in.

"Hey, hey! If it isn't my two favorite customers again!" the man said in his old, gravelly voice.

Noa gave a smile and a small nod of his head in acknowledgement. "Sal, old friend. How's the business going?"

"Haha, well, I'm still open, aren't I?" His old grey eyes shifted down to Ely, and they grew wide and brighter. "Well, well, the little Elwing. Growing every time I see you!" The comment was followed by a perverted old laugh.

Ely's face grew deep red with embarrassment, and she quickly folded her arms across her chest and took a step closer to Noa. Noa was about to open his mouth in protest, but an equally old and large woman as Sal came out from the back, and gave a quick smack to the old man's bald head. With a grunt, Sal turned around to begin yelling, but quickly stopped when he realized it was his disgruntled wife.

"E-Elenor!" Sal stammered in a bit of fear.

"Don't be goin' around makin' those ol' perverted wise-cracks, ya hear me, Sal?!" Elenor said in her (in Noa's opinion) awful accent. She then turned to the two Keybladers and a big smile grew across her face. "Please, won'thca come 'n 'n sit down? I'll have these ol' sack o' dirt fix ya up somethin' quick!" She turned over her shoulder, and her demeanor changed back again. "Sal! Gives these two a good plate, will ya?! They look starved!" After all her raving, and another quick smile to the two, Elenor turned around and disappeared back into the back part of the store. Noa and Ely tried their hardest not to burst out laughing, and instead decided to sit down and wait.

Noa wanted to get the business out of the way, first, however. He pulled a chair out for Elwing and sat her down, then, after giving her a raised index finger for a "one minute" gesture, he walked over to the counter that separated the rest of the restaurant from Sal and the kitchen. Leaning over the counter on his elbows, Noa got a mischievous grin on his face before getting Sal's attention. "Hey, Sal."

Without turning around or missing a beat with his cooking, Sal threw a "Hey, Noa!" over his shoulder. After a few more moments of quick work, Sal took a deep breath and turned around from the cooking food, and rested his hands on the counter, a big smile on his chubby face. "What can I do for ya?"

Noa's smiling faded just slightly. "Well, unfortunately, we're here on business." He saw Sal get a bit confused and concerned. Noa leaned in closer, as did Sal, and whispered, "It looks like the Garden may be in a bit of trouble."

Sal's head turned to stare him straight in the eyes, a look of shock and horror on them. He glanced behind Noa in both directions, making sure the two locals weren't listening, and leaned back in, mumbling very low, "How much trouble..?"

Noa gave a small shrug as a response. "We're not sure. All we know is that there's a mass of Heartless floating around Radiant Garden, and we think something down here is attracting them here. Unfortunately, we can't find what that thing is. We think it might have left, but then the Heartless should have to," Noa explained.

Sal stared at the counter for a moment, deep in thought. An idea suddenly struck him, and he looked back up at Noa. "Or maybe whatever was here left something behind…"

Noa's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "I never thought about that…" Noa began thinking on the idea, but then remembered the readings he got, and quickly dismissed it. "No, it can' be…I used a darkness tracking device earlier, and got no abnormal readings. Nothing showed up."

Sal gave a small grunt of dissatisfaction, and lifted his hand to run it over his bald head. "Sorry, then, son…I'm all outta ideas," he said a few moments later, putting his hand back into its previous position.

Noa gave a small inward curse. He wasn't out of ideas yet, though. Leaning back in to whisper again, Noa asked, "What about people? Has anyone around here been acting strange lately? Or maybe someone new came into town? Anyone looking suspicious, or dark?" Noa probed.

Taking a few moments and letting out a long breath, Sal's eyes wandered over the ceiling above them, trying to remember the past few days and weeks. He slowly began to shake his head, then returned his gaze back to Noa. "Sorry, boy. Nothing I can remember." Just as Noa was about to give up and go back to sit down, Sal struck another thought. "Wait, now I remember! Yeah! About a week or so ago, I was sweepin' outside, when I noticed a really oddly-dressed man walking by. I didn't see his face, though, 'cause it was covered by a hood, see? Dressed all in black, too. He didn't say nutin', but he just gave me an empty feelin'…"

Noa's eyes shot as wide as they physically could. A cold chill ran through Noa, and he could almost feel his hands shaking. A black coat with a hood, a cold empty feeling around them…Noa reached into the side pocket of his pants pockets and brought out a small circular machine. Holding it between Sal and himself, and pressed a button on the side. A hologram of a figure popped up above the machine, and Noa shakily asked, "Does this look like him?"

Sal's eyes lit up. "Yeah, that's him! That's him all over, looked just like that! What, he a wanted man or somethin'?"

"Y-yeah…you could say that." Noa turned off the hologram and put it back in his pocket. If it was what Noa was sure it was, Radiant Garden was in a lot more trouble than he thought. Mustering a smile, Noa gave a thanks to Sal, then turned around and hurried back to the table Ely was waiting at. His legs feeling like jell-o, Noa quickly slunked into his chair, and put his head in his hands, almost rocking back and forth with fear and concern.

Elwing quickly noticed, and instantly became deadly concerned. She reached a hand out to touch Noa, and quietly whispered, "Noa? What's wrong..?"

Noa, hands shaking, looked up from the darkness of his cupped hands and looked straight into Ely's concerned eyes. Taking a deep breath, he finally whispered out his revelation. "…we're dealing with Thirteens…"

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Alright, so, there's Chapter 2! Again, a but short in length, I think, but it seems like a good place to stop.

I want to make a note that, in case anyone is wondering, no, this isn't the return of the Organization, and "The Thirteens" is not their name. Just to let you guys know, "Thirteens" are the names given to the humanoid Nobodies, named of course ofter Organization XIII. I had to give them a name somehow, and there it is.

So no more confusion. Chapter 3 will be up soon, but only if I start getting reviews. No reviews, no story!

Seriously, even 1 review will make me estatic. Alright, I'm done...Seeya next time!

-Grim


	3. Ch3 Re:turn of Such Thoughts

**DISCALIMER: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS, OR ANY APPEARING FINAL FANTASY OR DISNEY CHARACTERS**

**Kingdom Hearts**

**Door to Awakening**

**Chapter 3:**

**Re:turn of Such Thoughts**

Elwing hated bad news. She stared back at Noa in utter shock. "Th-Thirteens…?!" she stammered, unable to hide her daze about the discovery. "Did you just say…Thirteens…?" Ely had never experienced or even seen a real Thirteen in her life. She'd only heard the old horrible stories of what they could, and usually did, do. They were heartless, destructive, and evil nonexistent beings born from Nothingness. Nobodies. Nobodies of the highest caliber. They wrought destruction and chaos everywhere they went, and they were sly, smart creatures. Unlike the Heartless, who acted purely on instinct, the Nobodies were different. They were made almost purely of memories, and therefore had the upperhand of a higher thought process. They could think, plan, and cheat. They were nearly perfect. The only problem is they didn't have a heart, and were theorized to be weakened by thoughts of grief and sorrow over their emptiness. How ironic; they were given the advantage of thought…only to have it turn against them and make them have the ability to think of their existence…or lack thereof.

Ely shook her head again, both to clear her head and as an outward expression of the want to deny the fact that this was real. She loved being able to go out and help others in the dire need of it, but…Thirteens seemed like something that was far above their heads. All she wanted to do now was to go fly home, get under her bed covers, and let their Master take care of it. Just as Ely felt her body do exactly just that, she mentally stopped herself. _'No!'_ she thought. _'You're a Keyblader, for heart's sake! Act like one! This is the stuff your heart was born to do! Protect the worlds from the calamity these nonbeings bring to us! This is your time! Prove yourself worthy of wielding such a weapon!'_

She took a deep breath to calm herself, and leaned back in her chair again, starting to think straight again. "Alright, then…now we're pretty sure we know what we're dealing with. What do we do now? Go tell Ress about this?"

Noa had also calmed down, and was starting to assess the situation. Breathing a sigh, he said, "No. We keep this between us. The less these people, including Ress, know, the better. It'll just cause panic and worry among the people, and if Ress began to act in such a way, it would cause everyone to be in an uproar. No, I think we should have a quick look around the world to see if the Thirteen is still here, and if not, then we should go back home and tell the Master. We'll plan something after that."

Elwing gave a nod of understanding and approval. She suddenly realized something, though. "Wait, you said 'if not.' If we _don't _find him here. But…what if we do..?"

Noa looked into her eyes again, strong. "Then we have no choice. We'll have to engage him ourselves. If he's still here, it'd be best to end it now. Let's just pray we have the strength to do it…" Noa said, mumbling the last part. Ely gave a very noticeable gulp, but nodded. She didn't like it, but not only was it her duty, but at this point, it was an order.

They had eaten in complete silence, barely even glancing at each other. The weight of what had suddenly just crashed onto the both of them almost seemed too much to handle. Noa's mind was swimming. It was starting to make him feel lightheaded, he was glad he was already sitting down. After they had finished their meals, Noa and Elwing stood to leave and gave a quick good-bye wave to Sal, who gave an understanding nod to Noa accompanied with an index finger over his lips to let him know he would keep silent. Noa returned with a nod of thanks before exiting the restaurant.

Once outside, both Keybladers seemed to be more cautious, almost to the point of jumpiness. Noa made sure to keep his head straight, but would continuously dart his eyes around, flicking his pupils towards anything that seemed like a quick black blur in his peripheral vision. Elwing, however, seemed to show her caution more outwardly than her partner. She turned her head at almost every small movement that seemed to come towards them as they walked around the village, trying to spot their Thirteen target. Fortunately, she caught herself in such acts, and tried to calm herself down by taking deep breaths. After a few tries, she was able to walk normally, but of course still kept her guard up and eyes watchful.

After about an hour, Noa and Ely had come full-circle, and were now back at the castle entrance. Now they were less jumpy and yet again more confused than anything. They hadn't found a single thing that would lead them to believe there was a dark source anywhere, or even that a Thirteen had been there at all. They had asked a few more people if they had seen the cloaked figure, and only a handful had said they also seen him walking about, but even within those few, none of them said they saw him doing anything besides walking through the town. Unfortunately, none of them could say which direction he had been heading, or saw him entering or leaving at all.

With a sigh, Ely squatted down onto the stone ground and leaned her back on the same stone wall, bringing her knees to her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs. "Not a single helpful thing!" she said, exasperated. "I'm starting to doubt whether he was here at all!" She looked up to Noa, who was deep in thought, a finger over his mouth and chin, his brow furrowed. Feeling her looking at him, Noa glanced down to her. Ely gave a small shrug of the shoulders. "Maybe they were mistaken. It could have just been a guy in a black coat."

"With the same design and same type of hood? Unlikely," Noa responded. He saw Ely's spirits drop in her eyes as she put her head to rest on her knees. He gave a small sigh. He didn't want to make her feel like it was her fault. He was going to save his current thought for later, after he could ponder over it more, but instead decided to share it now. Maybe Ely could help him a bit. "Listen, I've been thinking of something…what if it wasn't a Thirteen at all?"

Ely's head shot up from her resting, and stared up at Noa in confusion and shock, something she seemed to be doing all day. "What?" she managed to whisper.

Noa began to do the usual thing he did as he was thinking, both in his head and out loud. "What if the man in the cloak wasn't a Nobody? I mean, it's not like only Nobodies can wear them, right? I mean, the cloaks come in more than one use other than the appearance. We know that they have the power to cloak one from detection from things of the darkness and the like, so what if instead of another Thirteen spawned, it was actually just somebody trying to elude us? Which would explain why we couldn't pick up their signal on the H Tracker, even if they were still here. Which is another thing; the person wearing that cloak wouldn't give off any type of any type of reading, that's the point of the coat. It cloaks you from any type of device, or person, trying to track you. Probably the only reason _we _don't wear them is because they are spawned from darkness. Meaning one, they would probably taint our hearts some, and two, we have no way of getting some. Anyways, back to my original point, what if it's not a Thirteen, but someone, or something, else trying to stay under our, or anyone else's, radar? It's perfect. What do you think?"

Elwing was stunned. Her mouth agape, she realized what her expression would look like and quickly snapped her jaw shut. Darting her eyes around in thought for a moment, then slowly began to nod. "Yeah…" she stood up then, starting to pace around herself, seeing as Noa had stopped his little dance. "Maybe it's someone equally as powerful as Thirteen, or at least with similar powers, trying to do something to Radiant Garden, or even worse… maybe this is just the start," Elwing finished, looking back to Noa.

Noa gave a nod of approval and agreement. Whatever, whoever, this was, they were most dangerous. It was someone with enough power to start attracting Heartless to such a pure world, they were something to fear. After coming to their realizations, Noa and Ely rested for a moment by sitting on the ledge of the stone wall. Noa decided it was almost time for them to go back home to report to their Master, and get his advice on the situation, but just as they were starting to head out, Noa stopped. "Hold up a minute, Ely. I want to check a few more things first. I'm going to go down and check some places outside of Town, like the Crystal Fissure and the area round there, alright? You head back and prep the ship. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Elwing didn't really like the idea, especially during a situation that this had turned out to be. They didn't know who, and more importantly where their enemy was, and separating now may be a bad decision, but…Elwing knew that Noa could handle himself, possibly even to this new threat. Apprehensively, Elwing gave a nod I understanding. Noa gave a small smile and turned, heading back down the castle steps, but before he got too far away, Ely quickly put out a hand in front of her. "Noa, wait!" Noa stopped and turned around to face her. It took Elwing to figure out what to say for a few moments, not really even sure herself why she stopped him, but she looked into his eyes, full of worry, and simply said, "Just be careful and watch yourself, ok? Come back to me in one piece."

Noa stared at her for a few seconds, but simply gave another smile and nodded. "Of course, Elwing. I'll be safe, don't you worry, alright?" He waited until he saw Elwing nod and smile herself, then turn and walk towards the castle entrance. Once she was out of sight, Noa turned back around and started heading for the exit of the Town, leading out towards the blue scenery that made up the vast expanse of the world. Alone, Noa was left to his thoughts once again. He tried to keep his mind off of the bad feelings of their new discovery of an apparent enemy, and instead let his thoughts drift to Elwing. What exactly did he feel towards her? He knew for certain it was definitely more than friendship, but…what was it? Was it love? Maybe. He had never really given it too much thought. He tried not to. Emotions like that could drastically jeopardize a mission. He had also learned though not to become _that _type of person, someone who throws emotions out the window and only cares about "the safety of the mission." He had seen what would become of someone like that…

Pushing those thoughts aside, he went back to Elwing. He tried to figure out what his answer would be if she were to ask him right now if he loved her. He knew in his heart that he would do anything to protect her. If anything ever happened that might damage her, and he could have done something to prevent it, Noa wasn't sure he could ever live with himself. He loved being around her; seeing her, hearing her voice, even her scent made him feel happy. Maybe all that was love, he wasn't sure. He asked himself again what he would say if Elwing were to ask him if he loved her. At this point in time, thinking it through his head, he would probably tell her he didn't know. He would of course explain his reasoning, as he always did because he absolutely hated misunderstandings, and would further explain that he would just have to give it more time and thought, and hopefully she wouldn't hate him for it. It was at that moment that Noa found himself wondering if Elwing was thinking the same things at that moment, in their short reprieve apart…

'_I shouldn't have had that second ice cream…'_ Elwing thought as she sat in the gummi ship's recreation quarters, holding her stomach. Pushing the thoughts of food to the back of her head, Ely sat back against the wall of the room, letting her hands fall onto the sheets of the bed she was currently sitting on. Figuring Noa would be awhile, she decided to take a little nap. Letting herself slowly slide off of the wall, she let her head hit the pillow and brought her legs up onto the bed, making herself comfortable by taking her shoes and gloves off. Lying on her side, she began to curl up slightly and close her eyes. Sleep didn't come, however. Her body was tired, but her brain wouldn't stop thinking. Sighing, she reopened her lavender eyes and stared at the far wall. In her completely still state, she began to feel the small things she never did while up and walking around, like the feeling of the star necklace around her neck. Reaching her hand to grasp the cold metal of the star, it struck her then what thoughts were keeping her up. She was thinking of nothing but Noa.

Her eyes widened slightly, but they soon fell to normal again. It didn't surprise her that much. She had been doing a lot of thinking about Noa lately, both consciously and subconsciously. Elwing started to think deeper about Noa. What did she feel towards the boy? She knew it was far more than friendship, but was it indeed the "l word"? Ely's face flushed deep red at the thought. It was almost unthinkable to be considering such things…but maybe it was true. Maybe she really was in love with Noa. She had known him nearly all her life. He had been there every single time she needed him, and he would always brighten up even her darkest of days. Most importantly, they had both discovered they were Keybearers together. Her mind drifted back to the exact day, and of course the exact reason and moment when it had happened for them both. A warm smile grew across her lips from it. Realizing how she was, yet again, subconsciously reacting to even such minor thought of Noa, Elwing slowly began to understand. Maybe it _was _true. Maybe she really was in love with Noa…

Noa had reached his destination of the Crystal Fissure, and was quite out of breath. The long walk up the Ravine Trail took more out of him than he thought. Then again, he had been walking all day with barely any rest, plus all of the stress and worry of figuring out this new problem (not to mention trying to get his heart in order.) The Fissure had more than doubled in size in the last 95 years, since Radiant Garden had begun to change back from its dark days as Hollow Bastion. Forcing himself, Noa began to walk through the long cavern, relieved at the coolness of the small area around him. He had to duck a few times, but other than the small inconvenience, it was quite relaxing being inside the Fissure. The beauty of the light dancing off the crystals made the place light up, especially now, during the right time of day when the sun was just over the crack in the ceiling, let rays of light pour into the magical place, bouncing light every which way, creating all assortments of rainbows and other obscure color mixtures.

Upon exiting the Fissure, Noa found himself in the wide expanse of a valley know as the Great Maw. He knew that up ahead would lead to the cliff still know as the Dark Depths, but decided not to bother to travel that far. He stopped in the middle of the Maw, and let his eyes wander out to the vast landscape in front of him. He knew from old records and maps that, 95 years ago, he would be staring at the remains of the Heartless Castle, a small, rotting palace that was the essence of corruption that plagued the original castle of Radiant Garden during the days of Hollow Bastion. It was long gone now, however, letting itself succumb to its own dying structure, and one day finally collapsed and disappeared into nothingness. They say that marked the day when Radiant Garden truly began to become brighter and more like its old self. Ever since then, its' been paradise here.

'_Until all of this mess started,'_ Noa mused in his head. It saddened him to see such a place once again be the core of what might be a huge outbreak of darkness. _'I have to stop this thing before it truly begins…'_

"_**I'm afraid you're a little too late for that, Keybearer…"**_

Noa quickly swung his body around to face behind him, where he had heard the sudden dark and echoing voice. Quickly getting into a slight crouch in case he needed to defend himself, he began to look around the Maw, for there was no one around that he could see.

"Who's there?!" Noa called out, his right hand ready to summon his Keyblade at a moment's notice.

"_**Can't you see where I am?" **_the voice said, echoing from every direction now, causing even more confusion for Noa, who now began to turn in every direction the voice seemed to come from. _**"You're disappointing me, Keyblader!"**_

Noa began to grit his teeth in anger. This wasn't good, and it was getting annoying. "Whoever you are, show yourself _now_!" he yelled one last time.

"_**I'm right here."**_ The voice came quick, and without an echo. It was barely above a loud whisper, but it was right behind Noa's left ear. He quickly spun around to face his enemy, but alas, yet again there was no one there except the empty expanse of the Great Maw. But then, the voice's laughter suddenly came forth, but again it was different. The same voice, except now it was normal, without an echo, and seemed to come from one source. Noa spun around again to face his enemy.

When he did, he wished he hadn't.

Standing about 20 yards away from him was a man in a very familiar hooded black cloak. Noa's eyes went as wide as they physically could.

"Y-y—you…." he managed to breath out.

The cloaked man simply laughed. _**"Good to see you…Noa…"**_

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So, there's chapter 3. How's everyone liking it so far?

Please, I ask again, if you read this story, please just write a review! It's the only way I know what you think! Seriously, good or bad, short or long, I need reviews!!

Thanks again, and I'll start on Chapter 4 as soon as possible (which will be quite soon, seeing as I barely sleep)

Until next time!

-Grim


	4. Ch 4 Re:turn of Darkness

**DISCALIMER: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS, OR ANY APPEARING FINAL FANTASY OR DISNEY CHARACTERS**

**NOTE: A NUMBER CLOSED IN PARANTHESIS MEANS THERE IS AN EXPLANATION OF THAT PHRASE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE, NOT PART OF THE STORY**

**Kingdom Hearts**

**Door to Awakening**

**Chapter 4:**

**Re:turn of Darkness**

Noa hated bad surprises. Meeting a powerful and fear-striking enemy out in the open alone was one of them. He should have been a bit more prepared for this, though. After all, he came out here _looking _for this man. And now that he found him, he wished that he hadn't? _'Pansy…'_ Noa thought to himself. _'You call yourself a Keyblader…now's not the time for self-patronizing, though. I need to get my head clear. I may have to fight this man…or whatever the hell he is.'_ Noa shook his head to clear the freezing shock from his system and again got into his fighting stance, which was known as the _Wisdom Shot _(1) style. "Alright, I'll ask you one more time," Noa said through gritted teeth. "Who are you?! Show me your face!!"

The cloaked man simply gave another chuckle. _**"That should be the least of your worries…" **_He raised his right gloved hand, and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, pools of darkness appeared on the ground around him. Lifeless yellow eyes suddenly sprung from the pools as they began to rise and take shape into about 15 or so Shadow Heartless. Noa's eyes shit wide yet again. The man waved his hand forwards, gesturing towards Noa, and the Shadows leapt, claws extended, ready to try and take Noa's heart.

Quickly shoving the shock away, Noa threw his right arm out to his side, and in a flash of light, and suspiciously, dark smoke, his Keyblade, the _Brink of Redemption_ (2), appeared in his hand. The _Brink _was an astounding looking keyblade; its motif was that of good evil, usually dark icons turned light with its color scheme. The guard over the handle was made of two bat wings. The main shaft was split into two rods until they met ¾ of the way up, just above the "teeth" of the blade, and intersecting about halfway up were two more bat wings, along with two wide-spread bat wings just above the guard for decoration. As with all Keyblades that originated from its current user, the _Brink _had no keychain, as some Keyblades did (3). The teeth at the top of the blade was made from 3 protruding spikes, one straight outwards, and the two on each side pointing diagonally outward, and between the three spikes were two smaller spikes. As far as the color scheme went, it was completely white, except for, in the bat wings where the thin flaps were, it was colored an intense light blue.

Noa was well known for his Keyblade skills, but also for the different way he held the blade. Noa was trained in many different styles, and therefore of course would hold the Keyblade in many different ways, but the way he preferred was with the teeth pointing downwards, not up. An upside-down, or reverse grip, basically. He never understood why every other Keybearer he had met would strike with the teeth upwards. He guessed because most Keyblades had the opposite side more sharpened like a true sword, but he used the teeth because they could cut more enemies, and also added a bit of weight to the swings of his attacks, meaning more momentum and faster swings.

As the Shadows began to advance quickly on Noa, he swiftly transition out of _Wisdom Shot _and into a _Reverse Twilight _(4) stance before starting a sprint towards the Heartless spawns. Between 10 and 14 yards in front of the cloaked enemy, the Heartless and Noa met. Three of the Shadows leap at Noa simultaneously, and in the same moment, Noa shot forth the _Brink, _skewering all three at the same time. As they vanished into black smoke, Noa targeted the next group of Shadows, and brought the Keyblade up and around his head, coming down in a diagonal right, slashing through two more Shadows. Quickly inverting his blade horizontally, he brought _Redemption _back through the same path he had just taken it again, except swinging it towards his right instead of the left, taking out another three Heartless.

'_Three, two, three…that makes eight. About 10 left. This is easy,' _Noa thought, both inwardly and outwardly smirking. The remaining ten Shadows were quickly dispatched by a flurry of simple rights-and-lefts of Noa's keyblade. Finishing the final one off with a downward vertical slash, Noa stood back into _Wisdom Shot_ stance, and glared at the cloaked figure as the smoke from the defeated Heartless rose into the air.

The cloaked man gave another small laugh. _**"Very good, you've passed the first test. But that was one the easy part. Ready for it to get a little harder?"**_ he chuckled. Noa gritted his teeth in agitation, but before he could respond, the man snapped his fingers, and once again pools of darkness appeared. Stronger Heartless than the Shadows appeared this time, however; Neoshadows, Darkballs, and a few more Shadows rose up from the summoned darkness. The man waved his hand yet again, and the Heartless lunged.

Giving a growl of aggravation, Noa's hand gripped the hilt of his Keyblade until his covered knuckles where white, the leather of the handle creaking. "I don't have time…" Noa leapt once again at the throng of enemies, switching back to the _Reverse Twilight_ stance. "…for these games!!" he yelled, swinging the keyblade down to slash through a Darkball and two Shadows. He swung the keyblade in a left-moving arc toward another Darkball, but the spherical Heartless surprisingly caught the _Brink _within its pointed teeth. Noa's fury began to rise again, and with another yell, he pushed the Keyblade forwards with all his strength, cutting the Heartless in half. Not taking time to revel as the smoke floated into the air, Noa took once again to a maelstrom of slashes and cuts, taking down the horde of Heartless once again. Panting at this point, Noa had banished thoughts of a stance, and simply stood there, the black mist rising around him, hunched over and keyblade dragging on the ground. He glared at the cloaked man, hating him with all his might. It was just enough to give him strength, and without words of warning, Noa picking his Keyblade back up, and began a full-on sprint towards his target, a battle cry forced from his mouth.

When he was the right distance away, Noa leapt into the air, the _Brink_ held above his head with both hands on the grip. With all his might, Noa swung the blade downwards in a perfect vertical strike towards the man's head. It never reached the target, however. Eyes widening in confusion, Noa was dumbfounded as he saw his blade floating there inches away from the man's head. He was still pressing down, so why was he not going anywhere? That's when he saw it, the sword made of blue flame blocking his pathway. The stranger thing that a suddenly-appearing sword of fire was that it was floating on its own. That's when Noa realized, _'Wait…a floating sword made of blue fire…an Invisible!!'_

Knowing the dangers of these high-level Heartless, as soon as he figured it out, Noa pushed himself into a backflip, narrowly escaping the burst of dark energy that appeared where he previously was placed. Landing in a crouch on one knee, Noa looked up in time to see the Invisible appear and start to fly at a surprisingly fast pace towards Noa. Gritting his teeth in agitation again, Noa quickly formulated a maneuver plan. From his point of view, the Invisible swung its swords in a right-to-left diagonal swing, aiming at the low level of Noa's head. Noa quickly ducked under the swing, and rotated himself counterclockwise and to the right, swinging _Redemption_ upwards with his centrifugal force, taking off the Heartless' left arm with the blade. As the Invisible continued to fall forwards, Noa also continued his movements, and ended his spin at 180 degrees, landing right behind the Invisible, and finishing it off with a downward slash through its body.

Still panting, Noa slowly stood, and turned around slowly to face the man once again. White coat floating in the small wind blowing into the valley, Noa raised his keyblade to point it at the man. "You…I'm sick of all these so-called tests. Tell me…what is it your really after? Why me? And how do you even know me name? What do you want with me?!"

The man yet again replied with a chuckle._** "Once again, my dear Noa, these things should be the least of your worries. What you should truly be afraid of…"**_ The man broke off for a moment, and suddenly raised his arms so that they stuck out to each side, his palms facing Noa. _**"…is the Darkside within us all…"**_ He swung his arms to a 90 degree angle so that his palms now faced each other, only a few inches apart. Suddenly, in that small space, a tiny ball of dark pulsating energy appeared. Slowly, the man began to pull his hands further and further apart, and as he did so, the ball began to get bigger. He stopped his movements when the sphere of darkness was about 2 ½ feet in diameter, and raised it above his head, now only holding the floating orb with his one right hand. _**"Now, Keyblader…see how your heart truly reacts…"**_ he again trailed off, and as he did so, crouched for a moment, then suddenly threw the dark ball so that it went soaring high above Noa's head in an arc heading for the crater where the Heartless castle used to nest. _**"…when in the face of TRUE Darkness!!"**_

Noa followed the path of the dark orb as it went sailing for the dark pit. Turning his body to watch it crash in a wave of darkness, he turned back to confront the cloaked deviant, but he had already disappeared. Letting out a curse of utter frustration at loosing the target, Noa turned back around to watch what exactly the whole point of the orb was. Simply not just for distraction as the man fled, was it? Noa soon found out it was something much, much worse. The pool of darkness created from the crashing orb began to grow larger and larger, until it was almost 30 feet all around. Then, out from the cesspool of evil, a gigantic monster began to rise. Standing nearly 50 feet tall was a giant made of pure blackness, sans its glowing yellow orbs upon its wrapped face. The creature had small, useless wings upon its back, and a huge hole in its torso shaped in a heart. Noa knew instantly what this beast was. It was the strongest pure-blood Heartless known. The Heartless that was born when a world lost its heart, the Heartless of an entire world: a Darkside. Noa now knew why the man had mentioned the phrase before, as foreshadowing.

He stared up at the behemoth in utter fright. Shock and fear gripped Noa's muscles into complete paralysis. He had never once faced one of these gigantic forces of darkness before, only been warned and taught of them. He had always told himself never to worry, for even though these were enormous Heartless, they were known for not being all that difficult. Yet, as Noa stood here now, actually facing off against one, he found that he barely had the courage to breath. As the Darkside began to approach Noa, he had to bite his own tongue to get his body working again. Gripping the handle of his keyblade tighter now, a look of determination fell onto his brow, and a new surge of fighting spirit launched throughout his body.

Noa's brain kicked back into battle mode, and as he saw the Darkside slowly approaching, Noa began to form a battle plan. He quickly thought of a certain technique (5) he could use. _'It would drain nearly all of my magic, though…oh well. I'm not the type of person who uses magic too much, anyways. Alright…here it goes…'_ Noa slid into the stance required for his technique; he slid his body backwards so that he was balanced with his left leg forwards, almost straight, and his right, bent leg taking on all of his weight. He brought his arms back into _Reverse Twilight_ stance, his left arm a bit more extended outwards, towards his left leg. As soon as he got into this correct position, the commands began to go through Noa's head.

'_Charge!'_

Suddenly, Noa's hand, along with the hilt and guard of the _Brink of Redemption_ began to glow with blue electricity and energy. Slowly but surely, the amount began to grow, getting more intense as the charging energy began to grow nearer to the tip of the blade. In his concentration, Noa glanced up. The Darkside had now managed to climb out of the crater from which it was summoned. Trying not to break his concentration, Noa tried to ignore the oncoming danger and focused on building up the technique. Finally, the energy was full and set within the blade. Smirking with great pride, Noa looked up into the Darkside's eyes.

"Take this!!" he yelled as he slid out of the stance, and brought the Keyblade above his head, only wielding it with his right hand.

'_Punishment!'_

Without too much aiming, for there was not much need for it, Noa began swinging and slashing towards the Darkside at a fairly fast pace (6). He leapt into the air slightly to make his swings have a wider range, not having to worry about the ground. For every slash Noa made, a crescent of pure black and blue energy about 5 feet from tip-to-tip diameter and almost 2 feet wide at the widest point shot forth, homing in on the massive shape of the Darkside, and slicing through it. Noa's technique allowed him to fire 16 blades before he had to do his finisher. As he charged his strength for the final swing, he called out. "It's over!!"

'_Finalè!!'_

With all his strength, Noa swung the blade vertically downwards, making a gigantic, 10-foot-long crescent blade shoot forth, soaring into the already drastically weakened Darkside. As the final blade hit, however, it made the sound of not only one huge energy blade striking, but it also sounded, and appeared, as if 5 more had also hit it in rapid succession. With the technique over, one would think Noa would be out of energy. Not yet. Summoning yet again more energy into his keyblade, Noa without hesitation from the previous move, brought the keyblade back behind him as far as he could. Thinking the correct command of _'Strike!'_, Noa then hurled his glowing keyblade towards the collapsing Darkside. The flying, spinning blade struck the beast dead-center between its eyes, causing even more damage. Before the blade could boomerang back to Noa, he used a technique he had developed on his own (7). With every Keyblader, they had the ability to summon their Keyblades to their hand no matter where it is. Noa had taken this ability and reversed it. Using it now, he was able to make _himself_ transport to the keyblade instead of the keyblade to him. Now almost 75 feet in the air, holding the _Brink_ backwards for a final swing, Noa swung the Keyblade downwards, slicing into the Darkside's head, and simply letting gravity take its work as he fell towards the ground, letting the blade cut through the immense darkness as he soared downwards.

Once he landed onto the ground in a crouch, panting, Noa looked up to see the Darkside, now defeated, slowly tripping backwards. It suddenly turned its direction, however, and began to fall towards Noa. Standing up slowly, Noa very unworringly watched it fall towards him. Just at the very last moment before it would threaten to crush him, the entire being evaporated into black mist, a saved heart now floating away into the sky.

Finally letting out a sigh of relief, Noa let his arms and shoulders relax, the end of the _Brink_ resting against the ground in his very loose grip. In his relaxing moment, Noa never noticed the man come up behind him. _**"Never truly relax until you know where your opponent is…"**_ Noa's eyes shot wide. He gripped the keyblade to turn and quickly slash the man in half, but it was too late. He wasn't able to react quick enough. Without having any time to dodge, to move, to even move a few inches in either direction, Noa tensed up in the upmost pain as he felt a cold, dark hand reach into him through his back, and grasp his heart. Barely able to move his body, Noa slowly moved his clenched face behind him, trying to see the man. With the hood still up, all Noa could see was a smirk on the man's pale skin. _**"…for you might be in for an ambush from behind."**_ Letting out another chuckle, the man gripped tighter onto Noa's heart. Pain racked through his body. He could feel the man's dark touch on his heart, trying to let the darkness seep in. Tightening his grip even more, the hooded man suddenly began to slowly lift Noa into the air by his heart. He chuckled and laughed even more as he heard Noa's cries of pain and torment. Once he had lifted Noa almost a foot off the ground, he stopped there.

Noa slowly turned his head to look down at the Keyblade in his hand. With all his might, he tried to grip it even a little bit more, hoping foolishly that he could still try and get contact with the man. It was of no use. Another surge of pain went through his body, and he lost all concentration. "Wh---what…d-d-do….you…want…….with…me…?!?!" Noa barely managed to growl out of his throat.

The man once again laughed, even more booming this time. "_**My dear boy, whoever said it has anything to do with you?" **_Before Noa could respond, the man tightened his grip once more, his fingers starting to enter into Noa's heart. _**"Now…let the darkness flow through you, Noa! Let it seep into every crevice of your being! Accept it as your tool, your weapon! Submit to the darkness!! Become Darkness itself!!"**_ With one more sudden burst of pain, Noa let out a cry. He felt it. He felt every small bit of it. The man sunk his hand into Noa's heart, and unleashed a burst of darkness into it.

Slowly but surely, Noa could feel the stinging tendrils of the dark side slowly filling him up, body and heart. He could even see it now, strands of black smoke rising up from inside his own body. _'No..!' _Noa screamed in his head. _'No, no, no, no, no!!!!! This can't be happening!! I'm…I'm a Keybearer of Light!! I can't have this darkness!! Please, stop it!! No!!!!' _All the pleading in the world could not help Noa now. It was over with, no way to turn back now.

With the deed done, the man ripped his hand from Noa's heart and body, letting the 17-year-old boy fall to his knees on the ground. With an even wider smirk, the man began to turn to leave. _**"Remember this, Noa…I am the one who has saved you. Do not hate me…embrace it. Now go forth, and bring me hea—"**_ The man cut himself off. A black portal had appeared, the ones used by upper-class Nobodies. With a sigh and not another word, the man disappeared in his own, different portal of darkness. The nobody portal then closed, leaving Noa alone, suffering.

Noa sat there on his knees in a daze of pain and cluelessness. What was going on? Why? Why him..? If it wasn't about him, then why was this happening to _him_?!?! Then Noa felt something stranger. Passed the venomous pain of the Darkness seeping through him, he began to feel an emptiness in his heart, and in his hand. With barely any strength left, He turned his head to look at his right hand. His eyes widened in shock. Slowly, his keyblade, the _Brink of Redemption_, was slowly fading away. _'No….'_ he whispered in his mind. _'No, not you, too….no no, please, no!!'_ Yet again, all the pleading was all for naught. In a matter of seconds, his keyblade was gone. Clenching his eyes shut in physical and emotion torment, Noa let his body fall forwards, smashing against ground. He lay there for what seemed like forever. Slowly, the darkness was taking over and erasing his body. He could feel his heart start to become looser, more distant. He almost let his eyes close in his exhaustion, just to let it all end, but then something flashed into his weakening mind.

'_Elwing..!'_ Noa summoned up the last reserves of energy in his body. Slowly, very slowly, Noa brought his hand into his coat's pocket, and brought out a small communicator. Using the last bits of strength in his arm, he brought it to his mouth, and pressed down on the button to activate the talk. With a familiar static noise telling him the channel was activated, he rasped out a small and weak word. "E---Ely….?"

After a few moments of unsure and pain-staking silence, he finally hear another click, and then her voice. "Noa? Noa, are you ok? Where are you? You should have been back minutes a—"

"Listen to me, Ely…" Noa cut her off. "I…I don't have….much time left. I…I can't explain, but…..I…I just…wanted to say good bye…..to hear you voice….one last time…"

"Noa..?! Noa, what are you talking about?! Where are you, what's wrong?!" she pleaded on the other line.

Noa simply smiled. Just to hear her voice again…it was a release of the pain in what he thought were his final moments. "Ely….there's….something I wanted….to…tell you….."

There were a few moments of silence once again. Elwing's voice, when heard again, was more understanding, calm. She knew what was happening. "Yes, Noa..?"

Noa took in a deep breath. "Elwing…I….I l—lo….lo—" A sudden burst of pain and emptiness burst through Noa's body, cutting him off. With a final, deep release of breath, Noa simply said, "…I'm….sorry….." He let his fingers go limp, releasing the communicator.

As the darkness rose around him, swallowing him up, Noa smiled as the last thing he could hear was Elwing's voice calling out to him….

**NOTES**

(1) _Wisdom Shot:_ a fighting stance modeled after Sora's Wisdom Form stance. One hand forwards with the other hand holding the keyblade backwards, the back of the hand forwards, towards the body.

(2) _Brink of Redemption:_ Noa's Keyblade. Unfortunately, 's coding will not allow me to show a link to the photo I wished to put here. Please go to Photobucket, search "xemnox", then click on "view xemnox's album". It will be the first two pictures.

(3) _Keychains vs No keychain: _there is a theory out there, which I follow, that the presents of a keychain on a keyblade means that it has been passed down between users, the keychain there as a type of power source, or as a symbol that other users besides the original creator can use that keyblade. Keyblades without a keychain are thought to mean that they are being wielded by the Keyblade's maker. In this case, _Brink of Redemption_ is Noa's own keyblade, so therefore it has no keychain.

(4) _Reverse Twilight: _a fighting stance modeled after Riku's. ne hand is outwards slightly, and the wielding hand holds the keyblade at eye level, and vertically backwards/upside-down, with the back of the hand pointed towards the face.

(5) _A certain technique: _The name of the technique that Noa uses at the following point is known as the "Strike Raid".

(6) _A fairly fast pace:_ the pace of the slashes is the same speed as Link's Final Smash in SSBB (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

(7) _'Strike!':_ The technique Noa uses here is the "Strike Raid," a technique Sora used in the first Kingdom Hearts game, where he would throw the keyblade at the opponent multiple times. "Strike" was the first command you had to do to begin the technique.

(8) _A technique of his own: _Noa has developed the ability to transport him to his keyblade, the reverse of making the keyblade appear to him. It is simply called "reverse summoning".

Alright, so, there's chapter 4. Sorry it took a bit longer, but I really wanted this chapter to turn out well! What has become of Noa now? Is he dead? Or something worse? Stay tuned in for Chapter Five to find out!! And as always, REVIEWS, PEOPLE, REVIEWS!!!!! THAT'S HOW I KNOW YOU'RE READING THIS!!!!

-Xon


	5. Ch5 Mission: Start Darkness Arc

**OK, so…it's been quite some time. A LOT of things kept me from doing this chapter, like my Internet being down, missing a few keys on my keyboard, and getting ready for college, so it's been hard to finish Chapter 5. I've also had to do a few revisions…OH WELL, HERE IT IS!! THE BEGINNING OF THE "DARKNESS ARC"!!**

**First, I would like to take this time to thank those who need it. Obviously, Tetsuya Nomura for creating Kingdom Hearts and all that blah-blah, but a few others, too.**

**I would like to thank my friend Paige for helping me construct the beginnings of this story. There are three people who need much credit, but unfortunately, I have no idea who they are. One person came up with the name and overall design for Elwing, but I have changed her hair and face. If you are reading this, I thank you. I also thank the individuals who came up with the designs I based Noa and Zoar's keyblades off of. Credit is due there, too. So, enough with the babble, on to the story!**

**DISCALIMER: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS, OR ANY APPEARING FINAL FANTASY OR DISNEY CHARACTERS**

**Kingdom Hearts**

**Door to Awakening**

"**Darkness****"**** Arc**

**Chapter 5:**

**Mission: Launch**

Elwing hated her life right now. Everything that made up her world was starting to crumble apart. With just a few simple words, the man she thought she loved was basically telling her good-bye forever. "Noa..?! Noa, what are you talking about?! Where are you, what's wrong?!" Elwing cried into the intercom on the dashboard of the gummi ship. It was currently tuned in to Noa's communicator, which would also serve as a tracking system, but something seemed to be disrupting the signals. Noa had just gotten finished choking out a few whispered words about not having much time left and wanting to hear her voice one more time. Elwing wasn't stupid. She knew what it meant. Something had gone horribly wrong, and now Noa was…Elwing stopped herself from even thinking the word.

"_Ely….there's….something I wanted….to…tell you….." _Noa's voice crackled from the other line, followed by a wheezing cough.

Elwing knew what that signaled. This was it. Really _it_. Noa was fading away. He was disappearing from her life forever…this was their good-bye. The thoughts hit Elwing in the throat, and she quickly saw her vision blurring, the stinging hotness of tears piercing into her eyes. Choking back the hard sobs that seizured from her chest, Elwing tried to calm herself down. Letting out a sigh, she replied softly, trying as hard as she could not to lose it, "Yes, Noa..?"

Crackling over the line, she heard Noa take in a deep, painful breath. _"Elwing…I….I l—lo….lo—" _A sudden gasp broke Noa off mid-sentence. Elwing's eyes were wide. Was he about to say it?! The words she'd apparently wanted to hear for so long. But she just heard another sigh, and a barely audible _"I'm…sorry…"_ before the line clicked off, and the gummi ship went silent besides the low humming of the electronics at work. Elwing stood there, frozen in horror. She waited for an eternity for the line to click back on, to hear the static again showing that Noa was still there, alive, trying to talk to her again. But her patience was all for naught. Nothing was coming through.

"Noa..?" Elwing subconsciously chocked out. Swallowing the thump in her throat, Elwing tried again, making sure her finger was still on the talk button. "Noa? Noa?!" Still no response. Elwing began to get hysterical. "Noa?! Noa! Noa, answer me! Answer me, please!! You have to be there, hang on! Noa?! Noa!!" Elwing screamed, banging her hands on the console in a mix of fear, rage, and utter sorrow. Still not hearing a response, Elwing spun around and began to run out of the gummi ship and into the hangar of the castle, heading towards a location she hoped her heart would guide her to…

The only thing left was the communicator and the H Tracker. They were lying there, so innocently, on the blue soil of the Great Maw. Her eyes were still wide with horror and moist with tears. Something had guided Elwing to this spot, this empty valley in the space before the crater of Heartless Castle. Every part of her body shook, unable to eve wrap her mind around what was going on. Very slowly, Elwing bent down, and reached a quivering hand out. As soon as the tip of her fingers touched the now cold metal of the communicator, it was too much for the girl. Rocked to her core, Elwing felt a deep pain she'd never felt before, deeper than she thought her heart could go. Not trying to hold back anymore, she let the emotions wash over her and burst into tears. Not caring about anything but the moment, her sobs over the loss of the most important person in her life, Elwing sat there, clutching the communicator, her last bridge to Noa, her partner since forever, crying until her eyes couldn't let any more tears fall.

After a few minutes of letting her emotions run dry, Elwing slowly let her sobs come to an end. Composing herself, she whipped the wetness from her face and arms, gave a few sniffles, and gathered up Noa's left-behind objects. Giving a few deep breaths to collect her thoughts, Elwing began to walk back to the gummi ship, preparing what she had to do next. _I'll have to contact Master, _she thought. _Tell her what happened, and then…well, I don't know. I guess that's up to her…_

She wasn't looking forward to this moment. Once again standing in front of the _Halberd's_ console, Elwing took a deep breath, and spoke with a sigh. "Contact…Master Lilith." With a few beeps to portray the number dialing, the ship reached out and contacted their…her Master's contact line. After a few long moments, the line clicked, and a woman's voice appeared over the line.

"Yes?" the woman said. Her voice gave away someone within her late thirties, early forties, laced with wisdom, charm, and leadership.

"M-Master…Lilith..? This…this is Elwing, ma'am," Ely stuttered, both from fear of her master and from the emotions still racing through her.

"Ah, Elwing, nice to hear from you. How is the mission going? No Heartless as we expected, I hope."

The lump shot back into her throat, closing it up. Elwing did her best to swallow it again, and began to speak again, trembling in her voice. "U-unfortunately, y-y-yes, Master. That's…that's why I've...contacted you."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. After a few long moments, Master Lilith spoke once again in a very low and hushed voice. She knew something more than Heartless was wrong. "What happened, Elwing?" Lilith asked sternly.

Again, another lump in her throat, and hot tears in her eyes. She took a deep breath to steady herself and yet again whipped her tears. Making a quiet sniffle, Elwing continued, "W-well…we met with Ress, and told him about the heightened Heartless activity around the world, and how we'd be doing some investigations for awhile. After asking around, we discovered that a man in a black cloak with a hooded face had been spotted by multiple people."

Before she could continue, she heard a very small gasp come from her Master. That very rarely ever happened; it took a lot to impress and move Master Lilith. After another silence, Lilith breathed, "You mean…?"

"Yes, Master. Noa," Elwing choked on the name, but composed herself. "Noa believed it was a Thirteen." Elwing had to pause. Now came the worst part of it all: telling Master Lilith about her worse choice ever, and her partner's fate. Taking a final deep breath, Elwing continued, "Noa then said that upon learning this, we should return to you, Master, to get your opinion on the matter before we went any further. Just before we got to the ship, however…" Ely paused to compose herself again. "…he told me he was going to take one more quick look around, outside of the town. I didn't think much of it, but, against my better judgment, I let him go and returned to the ship." Elwing couldn't hold them back anymore. Letting her tears fall and her voice audibly shake, she continued, "About…h-half…an hour la-later…I…I received…a tr-transmission…from N—N—N-Noa…"

Reaching out a shaking hand, Elwing pushed a "playback" button on the console. After a few moments, a fuzzy static sound began, and the recorded final conversation between Noa and Elwing began to play. Elwing couldn't take it. She clenched her eyes shut, and even though Master Lilith couldn't see her, she refused to satiate the impulse to cover her ears. She didn't want to hear his voice like that again, and hearing her own hysteric screaming wasn't helping. After the recording finally stopped, Elwing whipped her tears once again from her raw eyes and cheeks, and continued once again.

"A-after the transmission e-ended…I…I went back out…and retrieved N-Noa's communicator and H Tracker. That's all I found left of him," she said, the last sentence barely above a whisper.

There was no sound from Master Lilith's line for quite a few minutes. Finally, Lilith quietly said, "Alright, Elwing. Take time to calm yourself down and stay on the ship. I'll contact you in a few minutes about what we're going to do about this, understood?"

"Y-yes, Master," Elwing said, giving a slight nod of the head. She turned to head to the ship's washroom, but was stopped.

"And Ely?" Master Lilith's voice came.

"Yes, Master?"

"…he will be missed by us all. Especially me." A click ended her transmission.

Elwing simply stared at the console for a few minutes. She turned back around and headed towards the washroom. "You have no idea, Master…"

"So Noa's gone, huh? That's a damn shame…he was one of our best," Ikris said, shaking his head in sadness. "Really nice guy, too…"

"Yeah. Heard it had something to do with a Thirteen. Even so, I never would expect something could beat the likes of him, even a Nobody," Aycis explained, never taking her eyes from the ground.

Ikris and Aycis were brother and sister, and both Keybladers in a 3-man group. Ikris, 16 years old, stands about five-and-a-half feet, five-foot-nine if you include his spikes fiery red hair, with bright yellow yet kind eyes, and as his hair suggests, is obsessed with the color red. His sister Aycis, 15 years old, is almost his palette opposite. With long flat, neon blue hair and bright solid-blue eyes, and she, too, has an obsession with her primary color, blue.

Both their attire was nothing special. Ikris wore a red sweater-like sleeveless shirt tucked into dark maroon pants that were also tucked, into ankle-high red shoe-boots. He also wore one red glove in his wielding right hand. Aycis wore a light grey-blue silk kimono-like top with baggy blue pants with the usual buckles, zippers and pockets that lead down to knee-high blue boots. She wore a long blue glove in her wielding left hand.

The two were currently in the three's favorite hangout, a small three-window stone room in the highest tower of a small castle. Ikris was standing, leaning on the sill of the north window, and Aycis was sitting on top of the oak desk in the room, staring at the floor as usual.

"You were pretty close to him, weren't you?" Aycis suddenly looked to the third person in the room, the self-proclaimed leader of their squad, and for good reasons. "Zoar?"

Zoar, 18 years old, stood just over six feet, and was of fairly muscular build; nothing special, but over average. He had spiky black hair that pointed backwards, and the top layer on his head curved upwards at the ends, with a chunk of stands hanging in front of his face between his kind but smart turquoise eyes. He wore a similar shirt to Ikris's, sweater-like, but it was purple in color and had one sleeve on the left side. His right shoulder had a metal dome-like shoulder plate strapped to it. He wore dark purple pants tucked into black boots that came just over the ankle. At his waist was a black weight-training belt that came up to the bottom of his sternum. He too wore one glove, a brown one on his right wielding hand.

Currently, Zoar was facing out the center west-facing window into the glowing sunset, a dull saddened look upon his face. He gave a sigh and spoke glumly yet respectively, "I knew Noa. We weren't that close, but…we trained with each other on several occasions. I really will miss him…I can't imagine how Elwing's feeling," he said, letting his head fall again in sadness.

In the silence, Zoar's contact phone suddenly rang with the ringtone of their Master. Pulling the phone out of his pocket and flipping it open, Zoar answered with a "Hello?"

"Zoar, please report to the Main Hall. There's someone here to see you. You have a new assignment," the gruffy man's voice came from across the line.

"Yes, Master Ritrus," Zoar answered before he shut the phone. His keyblade _Soaring Colossus _was resting against the oak desk. He picked it up and clicked it into its usual hole on his back and began to exit the room.

"What was that about?" Ikris asked, looking up towards Zoar leaving.

"Not sure," Zoar answered before closing the door.

Ikris and Aycis just looked at each other, confused.

There were two staircases that lead to the Main Hall of the castle, one from the left and one from the right, each leading to a wing of the mansion. Zoar came down the left staircase (if you were looking at it from the entrance as you walk in) made of white marble, as opposed to the black marble of the East staircase. As he came into view of the long and high-ceilinged hall, he saw his Master standing in the center carpet, talking to a woman just a bit shorter than him, but appeared to be his age. Raising an eyebrow slightly, making sure to make it invisible to them, Zoar rounded the bending staircase and came down the final flight of grey marble to the floor, and began his walk towards the two.

"Master?" Zoar said to announce his presence.

Master Ritrus, a man in his early forties with shoulder-length curly blonde hair and a pencil-thin beard reaching from sideburn to sideburn with no mustache. He also had a small x-shaped scar on his right cheek that Zoar had learned came from one of his old teammates during some drama years ago.

"Ah, Zoar, there you are! I'd like you to meet a dear old friend of mine, one of my old teammates and now a fellow Master, I introduce Master Lilith," Ritrus said, stepping aside and gesturing towards the woman.

As she stepped forwards, Zoar ha to keep from his eyebrows moving upwards. The woman was beautiful and young, even in her apparent age. With long grey-blue hair and bright blue eyes, she looked like an older version of Aycis. Wearing a long blue robe with yellow trimming, she wore a grey and blue dress below it with long brown boots. Her kind eyes shifted up to look into Zoar's.

"It's nice to meet you, Zoar V. Road. My name is Master Lilith. I will be your employer for your next mission," the woman said.

Zoar raised an eyebrow, not caring if she noticed. "Master Lilith, it's a pleasure. But, before I accept this mission, could I get some details on it first?" he asked.

She nodded with a slight laugh. "Of course." Her smile suddenly faded, and her eyes shifted away from him. "If you did not know, I am the Master of Team Alpha. Noa's squad."

His eyes shot wide. He glanced to Ritrus, but he only looked away. That was enough confirmation. Looking back down to the woman, he cleared his throat to gain back composure and spoke, "So, what…you want me to go on a rescue mission?" He had meant it as a sarcastic joke.

"Yes, I do." Master Lilith's head snapped back to stare defiantly up at Zoar. She wasn't joking. "Elwing will be reassigned as your partner, or rather you will be as hers. Don't worry, it will only be temporary. Your objective is simple to explain, but I know the enormity of it: search for Noa and bring him back, or, if that is found impossible, gather as much information as you can so that the…proper procedures can be carried out." Master Lilith explained. She had almost stuttered at the phrase "proper procedures."

Zoar needed no explanation. He knew what that meant. Currently, Noa was labeled as Missing In Action, and until he was labeled as K.I.A. or P.M.I.A. (Permanently Missing In Action), funeral and death procedures were not to be carried out. So, essentially, that was to be Zoar's mission: put a final label on Keyblader Noa. It sounded degrading when put that way, but Zoar also knew there was a small percentage chance that this was indeed a rescue mission, to go and save Noa from wherever he was. That's what it would go as in the records, but he knew the truth…

Zoar then realized he had actually been thinking all this, and they were still waiting for his answer. Clearing his throat again, he raised his right index finger. "On one condition." When he saw both Masters give him confused looks, he smiled. "I get no commission pay from this at all."

Both of them smiled, and Lilith looked back to Ritrus, who only gave a shrug. She turned back to Zoar and gave him a nod. "It's done then. As of this moment, you, Zoar V. Road are Temporary Leader of Team Alpha. Welcome to the family."

"Your new assignment is to The Radiant Garden. You will be given the title of bodyguard to the world's leader, Ress Ahtel. You are to guard him not only from human threats, but of those also from the Heartless, Nobodies, and any other possible threats. You are also to scout the world on a regular 2-day basis for other threats, and to keep a specific lookout for a Thirteen-Class Nobody. Do you accept this mission?" the man behind the black plastic-covered wooden desk said, holding a piece of holographic paper with the details on it.

"Yes, I do," Gail said.

"Then as of this moment, I hereby give you First Class Status in all rules, regulations, and privileges. Upon arrival, you are to meet up with fellow Keybladers First Class Elwing Novas and Zoar Road, do you understand?"

"Yes, I do."

"Be on your way, then. You have been assigned Gummi Ship _Quicksilver_ in Hangar 4, Sector 7. Good luck to you, son."

"Thank you, sir." Gail Yasunaga slipped his First Class card into his pocket and turned around, heading for the gummi hangar.

Settling into the pilot's chair of _Harbinger _once again, Zoar let out a sigh, folding his hands behind his head and propped his feet carefully up onto the console. "Computer, how long until we reach Radiant Garden?"

"_Time Remaining: 14: 31: 04" _the computer's automated voice spoke.

Zoar gave another sigh. "Fourteen hours?! Ugh!!" Zoar slapped one of his hands over his eyes in frustration. After a few moments, he moved it back to behind his head, and simply stared up at the ceiling of the cockpit. His found his mind going back to just before he left for The Radiant Garden…

"_Now, when you get there, find Elwing as quickly as possible. I'll contact her before your arrival and give her the details so that she'll already be up to speed," Master Lilith said. Everybody was standing next to the ship Zoar was to be leaving in, saying their good-byes to him. This wasn't going to be a quick and easy mission. "Other than that, I can't tell you anything about the situation. You'll just have to ask her."_

_Master Lilith stepped back, and Master Ritrus stepped forwards, slapping a big hand onto Zoar's unguarded left shoulder. "Be careful out there, Zoar. You may have to go into very dark worlds, worlds close to the edge of Realms we'd rather not touch, but…do what you must, son. I know you'll do great," he said with a fatherly smile._

_Zoar gave him a familiar salute, the placement of the right hand over the heart, and looked up into the man's kind eyes. "Thank you, Master."_

_Ikris and Aycis stood forward next. Aycis was holding something spherical wrapped in a cloth, both with big smiles on their faces._

"_We know how tough this mission's going to be. We already know that you are much stronger than use, in a lot of ways, but, everyone needs help here and there, eh?" Ikris said, the usual cocked eyebrow and smirk on his face._

"_So," Aycis said, "We got you this." She extended the object in the cloth. "We were going to wait for your birthday, but…we figured this was a more appropriate time."_

_Zoar took the object and unfolded the cloth away from it. As the cloth fell away, a green glow began to emit from the perfect sphere. Gazing at it, he saw the dark green of the orb, and inside of it was a lime green design of a small circle with streaks moving into it. Zoar's eyes widened. A magic spell. "Wow, it's beautiful! I can feel its power…what is it?"_

"_It's Drainga. Use it, and you can steal your enemy's health. It hurts them, and cures you. Pretty useful, huh? And, not to brag, but also pretty expensive," Ikris explained. He got a nudge from Aycis for the last part. He only kept smirking._

"_That's the highest level of that spell, so it's pretty powerful. Unfortunately, that means it'll drain a lot of your magic, so be careful. You don't want to be stuck in a battle with no magic," Aycis warned._

_Zoar just smiled. "Thank you, all of you," he said, eyes scanning over everyone. Before he turned to enter the ship, he picked up the Drainga orb. Holding it overhead with his right hand, the orb suddenly glowed even brighter, and suddenly dissolved into streaks of swirling light that traveled down Zoar's arm, and into his chest. He could now use the spell. Smiling again, he took one last look at everyone, and gave his signature good-bye. A two-finger forehead salute, followed by a quick, "See ya," Zoar ran up the loading ramp on the gummi ship as it started to close. Once starting the launch at the control panel in the cockpit, he took one last look out at everyone, who all were waving up at him. He managed to get one wave in before the ship took off down the launch tunnel and out into deep space…_

Smiling from the memory, Zoar took his right hand out from the back of his head and stared at the brown gloved palm, the hand he used to hold the spell orb. Smiling again at the memory, Zoar felt a surge of energy go through him. Not good. Now he had all this pent-up energy, and stuck in a gummi ship. Groaning, he got up from the pilot's chair, and checked the ship's radar. Nothing. He checked the time again, 14: 19: 34. He still had fourteen hours…Seeing that everything seemed to be calm, Zoar decided it was safe to leave the ship on its' autopilot, and get rid of some of the energy. He walked back to the back of the wide cockpit, stood on his tip-toes, and suddenly fell towards the ground. He quickly caught himself, and began doing some push-ups as the _Harbinger _soared towards his new mission.

Gail wasn't the type of man to complain much, but this was ridiculous. _Quicksilver_ was, quite literally, a clunker. The ship had to be at least ten years old, and he could see no attempt at repairs anywhere. There were gashes and cuts taken out of most of the gummi parts, the cockpit's shield had a crack in it, and one of the weapon g's was hanging only by one bolt and a few wires.

"You must be joking," Gail said as he stared at the pile of junk. "There has to be some mistake. There's no way that this ship is safe enough to drive! Where's the Head Mechanic?"

"I _am _the Head Mechanic, sir," the squat, fat man spit the word 'sir.' "Look, I'm just doing what upstairs told me to do. It says it all right here!" He pulled out a holographic paper with mission gummi details on it. "Gail Yasu…Yasanagu…whatever your name is—"

"Yasunaga."

"Yeah, whatever…YOU are s'ppose t be travelin' with _Quicksiltcher_, and this ship is the only one named that in this hangar, sonny! So if you think you can do my job better, then—"

"QuickSILVER."

"'Scuse me?"

"They said I'm suppose to by flying QuickSILVER, not SILTCHER. Read it again."

"Now you listen here, boy! Just 'cause you're a fancy-pants Keyblader doesn't mean—oh…"

"Something wrong?" Gail smirked.

Grumbling in anger, the mechanic simply mumbled a "follow me," as he lead Gail to the real _Quicksilver_ ship.

The real ship was much, much better. Of course, any ship would be much better than that last one, but _Quicksilver_ was quite a sight to behold Sleek, smooth, and of course silver, the ship was built simply for one thing: speed. Not power or shielding, but simply speed. Sure, it had the standard level 1 shield and level 1 weapons, but this ship will get you there before you needed them.

"The ship's also got a prototype new Warp Drive. Supposedly this thing's even faster than a normal Warp, but if you ask me, that's just dangerous. Oh well, I'm no physicist, I just work on the ships." He reached into a middle pocket on his blue overalls, and pulled out a set of keys. "There ya go, sonny. One for every room, and of course the ignition key. Good luck, boy." The man gave Gail a quick slap on the back before waddling away.

Even the inside of the ship was sleek and beautiful. Spacious, yet nicely compact at the same time. Gail new this ship had to have only been built in the last week or so. Besides testing, this was probably its maiden voyage.

_Hurray for me, then,_ Gail thought. He sat in the pilot's chair, also sleek, and turned the ship on with the ignition key and the press of a button. Quiet as a kitten. The ship barely even vibrated. With a smile, Gail called out the status of the ship before take-off to the Launch Manager outside in his glass booth. Giving a thumbs up, he opened the blast doors, and in just a few seconds, Gail blasted out of the hangar and towards The Radiant Garden. He would have put it into Warp Drive, but, he felt like enjoying the ship a bit longer. With a smile, he watched the worlds flash by him as he watched out the blue-tinted viewsheild in the cockpit.

**So, there it is, Chapter 5! Hope it was worth the wait! Hopefully I can figure out how to put a link on this frikin' website…once I do, I'll show you guys links to my drawings of the characters! So please, keep reading, and PLEASE review! I need to know how I'm doing!**

**-Xon**

**P.S. If you belong to MAL (), then please go and check out/join the official KH: DtA Club! Simply search for "Kingdom Hearts: Door to Awakening –Official Club-" for news, updates, extras, links, pics, and more!**


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